Speaking with Newsmax, Gingrich asserted, “No one has done more for gun ownership than Barack Obama.” The self-described historian went on to add, “If you look at the number of people who have bought guns since he became president, he has been the most successful salesman for people having the right to bear arms in modern history.”

Gun sales soared after Obama’s historic presidential election win in 2008. On the surge, a Washington, D.C., metro gun owner told CNN at the time: “I have been in business for 12 years, and I was here for Y2K, September 11, Katrina. And all of those were big events, and we did notice a spike in business, but nothing on the order of what we are seeing right now.”

Part of this was rooted in buyers and sellers fearing that Obama and the newly elected Democratic-controlled Congress would immediately rush to restrict access to firearms. Campaign aides of then President-elect Obama assured that gun control would be a low priority — and it was. As a result, The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence gave Obama a grade of F on his first year in office.

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The organization explained:

President Obama signed legislation letting people carry concealed weapons in national parks and in checked luggage on Amtrak trains, adopted the gun lobby’s empty rhetoric about just “enforcing the laws on the books,” and muzzled Cabinet members who expressed support for stronger gun laws.

In addition, the White House voiced no objection to people carrying guns near Presidential events and his White House staff removed statements from the White House website that declared support for gun violence prevention laws.

Similar fears pushed gun sales up after Obama’s reelection, though there are some outside factors Gingrich conveniently left out in his interview. Say, reports revealing that hate groups have risen sharply since Obama became commander in chief. And of course, the pimp and h*e relationship gun manufactures have with members of the Grand Old Party has driven its most famous politicians to create the narrative that’s truly responsible for rising gun sales in recent years.

As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) promises to bring gun-control legislation to the Senate floor and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), alsochairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has pledged to present a bill after Congress returned from recess later this month, Gingrich is hard at work trying to frame the situation as dire.

“They certainly won’t win on any kind of very strict rule,” said Gingrich of gun control initiatives pushed by Senate Democrats. “They may get one or two small things that they can claim as a public relations victory, but the continuous desire of liberals to disarm the American people will be frustrated once again.”

Joining Gingrich in the flame stoking is former GOP presidential contender and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler. After a caller to his radio show expressed legitimate concern that such a dimwitted comparison might detract from his politics, Huckabee agreed…only to repeat the analogy.

“You cannot take people’s rights away if they’re resisting and if they have the means to resist, but once they’re disarmed and the people who are trying to take over have all the power, not just political, not just financial, but they have the physical power to domesticate us and to subjugate us to our will there’s not a whole lot we can do about it other than just plan to die in the course of resistance.”

And the overdramatic diva of the day award goes to the Huck, for sure. Here’s hoping that meaningful gun control is passed starting this year and more so after the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives. Whatever happens, though, one thing is for certain: It’s not Obama that’s spooking people into buying guns. It’s NRA goons like Mike and Newt who have the simpletons thinking that if they’re not allowed to carry Sgt. Slaughter’s arsenal or pistol whip anyone on command, they’re not living in the land of the free.

Michael Arceneaux is a Houston-bred, Howard-educated writer and blogger. You can read more of his work on his site, The Cynical Ones. Follow him on Twitter: @youngsinick